WASHINGTON – A former spy agency official who was the target of a government leak investigation says he feels a "significant kinship" with National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
Thomas Drake, who was a top NSA official, assailed the Obama administration for what he called an "unprecedented and ruthless campaign" against leakers of secret government information. Drake received a year's probation in 2011 after acknowledging that he gave inside information to a newspaper about an electronic espionage program.
As Snowden remained in hiding, Drake spoke at a panel discussion on press freedoms and leak prosecutions at the American Society of News Editors convention. Others on the panel were Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll and Fox News journalist James Rosen.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
